March 5 was caucus day in the good ole Cornhusker state. This is only the third time caucuses have been held in the primarily red state, the last one being four years ago. The results of them being Barack Obama 2008, John Kerry 2004, and Al Gore 2000, and now Bernie Sanders 2016.
What are caucuses? First off, they’re not an election, there are no ballots, and no polling booths, it’s simply a gathering of Democrats across the state talking about who they favor as their party’s nominee. Only registered Democrats were able to participate, but people were able to register at the caucus site. Independents and even Republicans were allowed to switch party affiliations to participate in the caucus. Once signed in participants were assigned to tables based on district. Participants engaged in discussion over who they favored, and why, and tried to persuade others to vote their way.
Around 8 p.m. it was announced that Bernie Sanders had won Adams county. An hour later it was announced that Nebraska was feeling the Bern, Sanders won the state.
In honor of the caucuses being held in Nebraska I thought it would be fun to conduct a Hastings Senior High School caucus.
HHS CAUCUS RESULTS
Democratic Caucuses
Bernie Sanders 48%
Hillary Clinton 8%
Republican Caucuses
Donald Trump 15%
Ben Carson 13%
Ted Cruz 6%
Marco Rubio 5%
Jeb Bush 2%
Kanye West 1%
***at time of survey Jeb Bush and Ben Carson were still in the race
